Time is winding down on the voting for the New 7 Wonders of Nature. You have until November 11, 2011, to place your votes for your favorite 7 among the 28 finalists. Among those esteemed finalists you will find the iconic Cliffs of Moher, which are perched at the edge of Ireland on the beautiful wild west coast of County Clare (http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie).

Friday, October 7, has been dubbed “National Vote Day.” It’s a push to encourage people to vote for the Cliffs and make Ireland more visible on the map of the world that is located on the New 7 Wonders of Nature website (http://www.new7wonders.com/).

We encourage you to get out the vote for Ireland and the Cliffs of Moher. Make your voice heard!

Over 700 helium-filled orange balloons filled the sky at the Cliffs of Moher as schoolchildren from across north Clare took part in a spectacular visual display at the Cliffs on Tuesday, 7th September as part of the tourist attraction’s campaign to be selected as one of the ‘New7Wonders of Nature’. The students formed a giant ‘7’ on the cliff side and simultaneously released biodegradable balloons, marking the start of the ‘Great Cliffs Balloon Race’. Each balloon is printed with the ‘Vote for the Cliffs’ logo and a contact message to encourage people who find the balloons to contact the Cliffs. A prize will be awarded to the person who finds the balloon that has travelled the furthest distance.

The iconic County Clare landmark was shortlisted in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition in July 2009, along with 27 other sites, from over 440 participants representing 220 countries. In excess of one hundred million votes were cast in a global poll to determine the shortlisted sites. Among the other shortlisted sites are the Amazon Rainforest (South America), Table Mountain (SA), Black Forest (G), Vesuvius (IT), Galapagos Islands (EC), The Great Barrier Reef (AU) and The Grand Canyon (USA).

According to Katherine Webster, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience: “We are very grateful to the schoolchildren and their families for making today’s spectacular visual display possible and for the great assistance we have had from over 20 primary schools in North Clare. The Great Cliffs Balloon Race will help spread the message about our bid to be named one the New7Wonders of Nature which, if successful, would be a major coup for Ireland to have one of the new seven wonders of nature.”

“We are the only Irish entry remaining in the competition and the potential benefits for Ireland are enormous particularly for Irish tourism bringing in thousands of additional visitors to the country each year”, Ms. Webster added.

The official New7Wonders of Nature list, which is subject to a worldwide poll, will be declared on 11 November 2011 (11-11-11).Competition organisers, Swiss non-profit New 7 Wonders Foundation, expect to collect a total of one billion votes in the campaign overall. Votes can be cast at www.new7wonders.com/n7w, so get in your vote now!